1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing L-carnitine. It is known that L-carnitine occurs usually in living bodies and it accelerates the growth of children.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As methods for producing directly L-carnitine, a French Patent Application No. 7722183 and a Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 39731/1982 are known. The method of French Patent Application No. 7722183 employs NAD and it requires a treatment to enable NAD to pass through the cell wall, so that it leads to an increase in cost. Further, in the method of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 39731/1982, the reaction requires 2-oxoglutamic acid, a reducing agent, ferrous ions, catalase and the like in addition to .beta.-butylobetaine that is the substrate, so that the reaction system becomes complicated, from which an increase in cost results.